Go Towards the Light
by Numb3rsfan
Summary: Eight year old Don Eppes is a hemophiliac child. While coming back from a family reunion, Don falls ill, which turns out to be the first step in a long, painful journey for the entire Eppes family.
1. Go Towards The Light Stats

**Name: **Go Towards the Light

**Author: **Numb3rsfan

**Beta: **InvisibleBrunette

**Fandom: **Numb3rs

**Rating: **T

**Warnings: **This is an OOC/AU story, so the dates are going to be off. Some ideas for the story are from the film _Go Toward the Light _starring Linda Hamilton and Richard Thomas. Tissue Warning for later on though. This is not accepted canon, nor is it supposed to be.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Numb3rs, or _Go Toward the Light_, this is just for fun.

**Author's Notes: **This is based on a true story.

**Summary:** Eight year old Don Eppes is a hemophiliac child. While coming back from a family reunion, Don falls ill, which turns out to be the first step in a long, painful journey for the entire Eppes family.


	2. Chapter One: Diary

**Go Towards the Light**

By

**Numb3rsfan**

Chapter One: Diary

Twenty year old Charles Edward Eppes sat in the attic of his dad's home in LA.

He was sitting at an old wooden desk that used to be his father's.

An old desk lamp flooded the attic with light, illuminating some old photos that Charlie had in his hands.

The photos were covered in dust and some had bits of dried food on them, but they were still recognizable at any rate.

Placing the photo that was on the top of the pile, back down on the desk, Charlie picked up the next photo and looked at it carefully.

In the photo were three people; two of which he recognized immediately as his mother Margaret who was now dead from cancer, and Charlie's father Alan. However there was a little boy with dark hair and brown eyes that Charlie didn't recognize.

Turning the picture over, Charlie read what had been inscribed in his mother's handwriting: _Don's 8__th__ Birthday_.

Charlie scrunched up his eyebrows. Who in the world was Don and what did he have to do with his parents_?_

Opening up the top drawer of the desk, Charlie put all of the photos except the photo of Don back in to the drawer.

Reaching over, Charlie was about to shut the drawer when he saw something way in the back. Reaching in, Charlie locked his fingers around the object and pulled it out.

It was a book, about the size of a library paperback. The book was azure blue with a red border. On the front was a little lock with a key still in the lock. Attached to the key was a small red ribbon that looked as if it had been through a lot.

Licking his lips, Charlie slowly turned the key a full 360 degrees before hearing and seeing the lock pop open.

Fingering the lock, Charlie simply removed it, setting the lock on the dust covered desk.

Charlie ran his hands over the old book for a few moments, having a feeling that he had just found a little piece of family history.

Slowly he opened the front and read what was written: _'If you find this, please don't read it but return it to Margaret Paxton-Eppes.'_

Charlie flipped through the first few pages until he found one that was dated 12/29/1989

As he read what his mother had written down, Charlie could slowly start to imagine that very same day all those years ago...

NUMB3RSNUMB3RSNUMB3RSNUMB3RS

Eight year old Don Eppes sat in the backseat of his parents van with his cousins Tommy and Ben. Tommy and Ben's parents had died in a house fire a year ago, so instead of having the boys placed in a foster home, Margaret and her husband Alan said the boys could stay with them and their son Don.

Now the entire family was on their way to Vermont to visit with Margret's mother and her husband, as well as see Don's cousins on her mother's side.

Alan was in the driver's seat of the van, with Margaret riding shotgun.

Behind her sat Tommy and Ben and behind them sat...or rather danced Don.

Don was moving along to the song on the radio, while trying to get his cousins to follow suit.

"Come on guys, try it. It's really easy! All you gotta do is feel the beat!" Don said, trying to prove how easy it was.

Finally Tommy and Ben started to dance as well, though it was clear that Don was a lot better than the two of them.

After the song ended, Alan switched off the radio before glancing in the rearview mirror for a second.

"Fella's before we get there I want to remind you that at the last family reunion you boys ran off and left Sara and Jessica by themselves. Now they are your cousins too you know and I want you to include them."

"But they are girls!" Ben said, as if girls were the most disgusting thing he could think of.

Don chuckled at his cousin's remark towards girls.

"Oh come on Ben, girls aren't so bad." He replied.

Glancing out the window at the snow covered ground, Don wished that they were there already so he could go sledding. His Grandma's house had some of the best hills around, which meant that they had some of the best sledding turf around.

Finally after what seemed like ages and ages, Alan pulled to a stop in the driveway of Margret's mother's house.

All of the children quickly clamored out and ran up the steps, hugging their grandma ecstatically.

Seeing Sara and Jessica sitting on the porch just watching the proceedings, Don approached them and said, "Sara, Jessica...hi! Do you want to play?"

A smile came to the girls faces as they nodded and stood up, following Don as he went to get his sled.

Meanwhile inside the house, Margaret was in the kitchen unpacking what she had brought.

She pulled out cookies and chips and bread before pulling some blue and white boxes out and placing them in the fridge.

The label on the boxes read Antihemophilic Factor (Human).

"Doesn't that ever make you mad, sis?"

Margaret turned around to see her elder brother Craig standing there nibbling on a piece of celery.

"What?" Margaret asked as she closed the fridge door and went over to him, wiping her hands on her t-shirt as she went.

Craig gestured to the fridge as if to point to the boxes she had put in seconds earlier.

"Living with that."

"Hemophilia? No, it's a part of life." She replied.

"Well...it...hasn't been very good to you." Craig shot back, standing up straight as he folded his arms.

He was thinking about Don, because young Don was a hemophiliac.

"We knew the odds. I'm a carrier. One in four chances of having a hemophiliac baby." Margaret said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yes I know but you had three hemophiliac babies..." Craig pointed out.

It was true...Margaret did have two other sons before she had Don. The boys had been twins and they had both had hemophilia...and they had both died of SIDS at the tender age of 3 months.

"The twins were two terrific little boys, and Don is a terrific little boy." Margaret said.

The backdoor opened just then and in came Alan, with Don in his arms.

"Sorry honey but Donnie has a bleed." Alan said, sitting Don on the counter.

"Oh no," Margaret said. She sighed before going to the fridge and grabbing one of the six boxes she had placed in there.

One of the girls asked if they could watch and after a slight chastisement from their father, who was Margret's brother, permission was given.

"It's really no big deal," Ben said, "She's going to give Don Factor, it helps to stop the bleeding."

"Does it hurt?" Jessica asked, seeing the needle in Margret's hand.

Noticing Jessica's face, Don smiled as his mother gave him the shot.

"No, not really. I've been doing it for years." He told her.

Once the shot was administered and the bleed stopped, Don was good to go, staying outside most of the day.

Don and his cousins had the time of their young lives sledding down the slopes, but like all good things it had to come to an end.

When the sun went down it was time to say goodbye, so Don placed his sled in the van before hugging Jessica and Sara.

"Bye see you next year." He said.

That said, he climbed in to the van, followed by Tommy and Ben who sat in the very back. Margaret and Alan said their own goodbyes before they too got back in the van and started for home.

NUMB3RSNUMB3RSNUMB3RSNUMB3RS

They had been driving for several hours in the dark. The boys were all asleep in the backseats, and Margaret was trying to lightly doze in the passenger seat.

"I thought you were going to tell them about the baby."

Opening her eyes, Margaret glanced at Alan before she stretched her tired muscles.

"I was going to but I decided to wait until we have moved in to the new house. Can it just be our secret for awhile?" Margaret asked.

She smiled at Alan who lovingly smiled back; reaching over to hold her hand.

Hearing someone groaning behind her, Margaret turned to see Don clutching his stomach.

"Mom, I have a stomach ache." He said through gritted teeth.

"Oh Don, I knew you ate too much candy today." Margaret said, meaning that as a sort of chastisement.

"Dad I really have to go. Can you pull over?" Don asked.

Glancing back at his son Alan said, "It's an emergency huh?"

"Yes."

Sighing, Margaret shook her head.

"Okay, but don't think I have forgotten that tomorrow is school." She said.

Slowly Don nodded his head, rising and exiting the van after his father pulled over.

It took several minutes for Don to take care of business, but after he was ready, he climbed back in the van and fell asleep before they reached home.


	3. Visit to the Doctor's

**Go Towards the Light**

**Author's Notes: Remember everyone, this is an AU type fic, so it's not going to follow accepted canon.**

Chapter Two: Visit to the Doctor's

The next morning Don found himself having to suffer through school. He still had his stomach ache, so recess was out of the question.

Once class let out, Don and his friend Cassie were the last ones left.

Don was sitting in a desk, looking downright miserable, while Cassie was in the desk beside his, just coloring away.

After several minutes Cassie glanced at her friend, seeing the paleness in his cheeks and the way he almost seemed to guard his stomach.

"It's bad, huh?" Cassie asked.

Slowly Don sat up before glancing at his friend.

Don didn't speak, only looking at Cassie with tired eyes. Slowly he nodded his head in response to her question.

"Like you have to throw up?"

Again, Don nodded again, not really feeling like talking.

"That's what chemotherapy feels like too." Cassie said.

Wanting to change the subject, she got out a fresh piece of paper before grabbing a blue crayon.

"Look at this color! Isn't it pretty?" She asked, drawing Don's attention to the blue markings of the crayon as Cassie drew on the paper.

Don nodded his head once more as if to say 'yes it is pretty'.

"Do you know what it's called? Azure!" Cassie said, smiling at Don just then.

"Azure?" Don asked, finally speaking up.

"A-Z-U-R-E. It's my favorite!" Cassie said.

Don finally got a good look at his friend. She was his age, thin blond hair which she always kept covered. The main reason being she had cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy, so most of her hair was now either gone or falling out.

The door to the classroom opened and Margaret walked in to collect her son.

Walking over to Don she knelt down next to him, seeing his pale complexion. For once she was glad that Don had an appointment with his doctor.

"Hi honey!" Margaret said, only receiving a quiet, "Mom..." in response.

Margaret rubbed Don's back before she looked at Cassie who was still coloring away.

"How are you doing Cassie? Keeping Don company?" Margaret asked.

Cassie smiled at her before nodding her head.

"Yeah!"

Margaret smiled back at the young girl before turning her attention back on her sick son.

"Come on Donnie, let's go." She said.

Slowly Don grabbed his books and his pencil before sliding out of the desk and walking out the door; his mother following behind him.

Margaret watched Dr. Paxton test Don's reflexes before listening to his heartbeat.

Once finished he looked at Margaret with his usual matter-of-fact look.

"Well Mrs. Eppes I can't really be sure what it is until I run some tests, but I would say it's a virus, or given his diarrhea; a parasite."

"What's a parasite?" Don asked.

"A parasite is a tiny little microscopic bug that gets in to your system and causes havoc!" Dr. Paxton replied.

Don thought about what the doctor said for a few seconds before he asked, "What's havoc?"

Dr. Paxton looked surprised, not expecting to be asked to define the word havoc.

"Uh...havoc...is uh...when things get out of control."

Margaret looked at her son, reaching over to rub his bare back before looking at the doctor.

"Well, what can we do in the mean time? He's been running to the bathroom every half hour." She asked.

Dr. Paxton glanced back at Don, almost seeming to size him up like a piece of meat.

"Well, I can give him some antibiotics that should start to take care of that. Now, young man do you think that you can spare some blood?"

Don shrugged his shoulders, offering a feeble, "Sure," as a response.

Dr. Paxton smiled before going over to a cabinet; removing the required instruments so he could complete the blood drawing process.

"Which arm?"

Dr. Paxton didn't look up from what he was doing as he replied, "You choose."

Don chuckled for a minute as he pretended to pitch a make believe baseball.

"Left. My right arm's my pitching arm." He replied.

With a smile on his face, the doctor walked back over to Don before pulling up his stool and sitting down.

Taking Don's arm, he proceeded to draw some blood for the tests.

Four days slowly passed at the Eppes home.

Margaret and her husband Alan were packing up their things, to get ready for the big move next week.

Boxes were strewn in every single room, some full, some just half full.

Don lay on the couch watching tv. In the past few days he had just gotten worse. Now he looked very pale and weak. He hardly got up and did anything anymore except run to the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Don's cousins Tommy and Ben were full of energy. At the moment they were playing bank robbers with their cap guns.

In the kitchen Margaret was on the phone with Dr. Paxton, wondering what the test results were, and wondering why the medicine wasn't working.

"Dr. Paxton, Don has been taking the medicine but it hasn't been working. He still has the stomach pain and the diarrhea, and now he's developed some kind of a rash! He's lost ten pounds in the last two weeks and I am very concerned!"

"Mom! Tommy's dead he has to fall down!" Ben complained when his younger brother wouldn't fall to the ground after being shot.

"I don't wanna!" Tommy replied back, as he hid behind a box marked 'Living Room.'

Looking at the two children, Margaret leaned forward and scolded, "Boys please I am on the phone!"

Sighing, she apologized to Dr. Paxton for the interruption, but not two seconds later she heard Don's voice.

"Mom I can't see!"

In front of the tv stood Tommy, still firing his cap gun at Ben.

Ben kept shooting at Tommy who finally stomped over to a small mattress that was in the floor and noisily fell down on top of it, clearly upset.

While Ben was giggling, Margaret sighed and went over to Tommy, picking him up before returning to the kitchen.

"I am really sorry Dr. Paxton!" Margaret said in to the receiver.

Meanwhile the front door opened to admit Alan who had just come home from work.

Hearing the ruckus in the house Alan asked, "What's going on in here?"

Don laid eyes on his father for just a moment before shrugging his shoulders.

"Havoc." Don softly replied as if it was the most natural thing in the world to say.

In the kitchen, Margaret was still trying to tend to Tommy while talking with the doctor.

"_Margaret I think it would be a good idea to take Don up to Children's Hospital and have them take a look at him. I know it's a long drive for you but I really think you should get him up there...today rather than tomorrow."_

Hearing the doctor's voice, Margaret knew that something must be terribly wrong if he was requesting Don be taken to Children's Hospital.

"Alright Dr. Paxton, we'll leave right away." She replied.

Hanging up the phone she quickly gathered up the kids before she and Alan began the long two and a half hour drive to Children's Hospital.


	4. Fatal Disease

**Go Towards the Light**

Chapter Three: Fatal Disease

The next morning found Don lying in a hospital bed while one doctor poked and prodded him for the fourth time that day. Two other doctors...or were they nurses? Don wasn't for sure, but they were looming behind the doctor.

After slightly pushing on his chest, Dr. Gladstone took out his penlight, turned it on before gently touching Don's jaw.

Slowly Don opened his mouth and allowed the doctor to shine his light down Don's throat for a few moments.

Seemingly satisfied with what he saw, the doctor flicked off the penlight and stuck it back in his pocket before turning to Alan and Margaret.

"Mr. Eppes, Mrs. Eppes, the parasite is more than likely the cause for the cramping in the stomach. He has also a swollen gland right here on the right side of his neck, and a white coating on the back of his throat. Now the last battery of tests we preformed were inconclusive so I have ordered a brain scan, a bone marrow test and a spinal tap." Dr. Gladstone said.

Both Alan and Margaret were silent for several moments, both knowing the amount of pain those tests would bring on their son.

Don was just a little boy...how could they put him through that? Then again, how could they not?

He was a sick little boy and if those tests were the first step on the road to making him well, then how could they not give the okay?

"How long would the tests take?" Margaret finally asked.

"About four more days." Dr. Gladstone replied matter of factly.

Alan's mouth dropped open in disbelief at the doctor's estimate.

"Four more days?!" He asked.

Hearing a sigh from his wife, Alan turned to face her, having a feeling as to what she was fixing to say.

"Don and I will be fine here. You are going to have to get back to work and you are going to have to take care of the boys. It's going to be fine." Margaret said, still sounding a little unsure of herself.

Reaching over, both Alan and Margaret kissed each other goodbye, with each muttering 'I love you' in each others ear.

Smiling at his wife, Alan took one good long look at her and Don before finally leaving the hospital.

After he was gone, the next four days seemed like an eternity for both Don and Margaret.

The tests were painful and long, and the waiting for the results seemed almost unbearable, but finally Friday rolled around.

At the appropriate time Margaret left Don's side and went to the waiting room outside Dr. Gladstone's office. Behind her was a window looking down on to the big hospital parking lot.

Every few seconds she would glance down, hoping to see Alan's truck, but so far nothing.

She knew he was on his way but it was a two hour drive from their house to the hospital, and Alan would have been coming straight from work, which was even farther away!

"Margaret?"

Turning, Margaret saw Dr. Gladstone's personal assistant, Angie standing there, hands clasped in front of her.

"Dr. Gladstone is ready to see you now." Angie said.

Nodding her head, Margaret took one last look at the parking lot before following Angie in to what looked like a mini library instead of Dr. Gladstone's office.

Inside the room was Dr. Gladstone and four other doctors, all pouring over pieces of paper.

Hearing the door open, all of the doctors looked up. After seeing Margaret, they all looked at her with pity, knowing what was to come for her son.

"Is uh...Alan coming?" Dr. Gladstone asked as he gestured to one of the two chairs on the other side of the table.

"Yes but uh...we do live a long way from here. He is on his way though, however we can begin and I can fill him in when he gets here." Margaret said.

Crossing over to the chair that the doctor had indicated, she slowly sank down in to it, wondering why the doctor was taking so long to tell her what they had found.

"Alright, um..." Dr. Gladstone began. He picked up Don's folder before walking over to the other side of the table, closer to Margaret. When he was within arms reach, he stopped and pulled up a vacant chair before sitting down in it.

"We uh...have some of the test results back, however we are still checking out several other aspects of Don's condition. So far we do know that Don does have a parasite, which is not uncommon in cases like his. Um...the swollen gland on the right side of his neck is responding well to treatment, even though we aren't quite sure of the cause. He uh...has a uh...pretty serious case of a yeast infection called thrush which is the white stuff in his throat. It can be dangerous if left untreated because it spreads until it effectively stops Don's breathing, but we all feel that we pretty much have that under control." Dr. Gladstone said.

From the emotion she heard in the doctor's voice, she could tell that something about Don's case had him really concerned and upset. Was it the thrush? Surely this wasn't his first serious case of it? Or was it his swollen neck? Dr. Gladstone had said it was responding well to treatment!

"Margaret...do you want to wait for Alan to get here?"

Margaret turned to face Angie who was still sitting beside her.

Searching Angie's face, Margaret realized that there was something else that Dr. Gladstone hadn't said about Don's condition.

With tear filled eyes, Margaret slowly shook her head before looking back at the doctor.

"What? What aren't you telling me doctor?" Margaret asked.

With a sigh, Dr. Gladstone looked in to Margret's eyes, finally ready to drop the biggest bombshell in his entire medical career.

"Margaret...have you ever heard of...the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome?"

Margret's eyes got as big as saucers as her mind tried to work through what Dr. Gladstone had just said.

"You...you mean AIDS? My little boy has AIDS?!" She asked.

Not knowing how to handle that latest blow, Margaret stood up and left the office, her emotions now seemingly torn in two.

Returning to the window overlooking the parking lot she stood there for ten more minutes with the knowledge that some day...some day soon her child would die.

It couldn't be true...not Don...not her son! There must be some mistake on the test...but the doctor had seemed so sure. What if it was true?

Out of the corner of her eye she saw an old, beat up Ford pickup pull in to the parking lot and stop in a parking space.

Recognizing it as Alan's truck, Margaret turned away from the window and went to the elevator, taking it to the bottom floor before heading out in to the hall.

She walked with calm steps until she saw Alan coming towards her with a look of slight worry on his face.

Now more than ever Margaret yearned to be in her husbands arms, so with tears now streaming down her face she began to run, never stopping until she was in Alan's warm embrace.

Alan didn't have time to ask what had happened as Margaret buried her tear stained cheeks in his T-shirt.

"Oh...oh Alan...!" Margaret said in gasping, muffled breaths as she tried to breathe, even though she knew that she was crying so hard that talking was almost impossible.

"What? What happened Margaret? What did the doctor say?" Alan asked, making Margaret look up at him.

With tears still streaming down her face, Margaret shook her head.

"I..I..ca..." She stuttered before breaking down in sobs again, just not believing that her son was going to die.

Knowing that he wouldn't get anything out of Margaret until she calmed down, Alan led her over to a bench before sitting down next to her, letting Margaret cry her eyes out, while wondering what terrible news she had learned.


End file.
